Science in the Stacks


Science_stacksBookworms aren’t the only bugs in the library anymore. At the new, 14,000-square-foot Children's Library Discovery Center in Queens, New York, visitors are streaming in to find a cockroach, a spider, a cricket, a shiny beetle and more. They're all part of the "Discover Bugs" hands-on science station set up in the heart of the children’s book collection. 

Discover Bugs is one of 36 touch-friendly exhibits developed by the San Francisco Exploratorium (a Howtosmile.org founding partner) in collaboration with Queens Library staff. Ten years in the planning, and funded by the National Science Foundation and private donations, the Children's Library Discovery Center is the only public library in the United States that incorporates an interactive museum.

Among the most popular activities are Color House, Optical Illusions, Sound Puzzle, Magnetic Spinner, and Kids Discovery Mirror. By rotating the 36 activities through 19 tabletop stations, to keep them fresh for return visitors, and by scheduling regular science and traditional library programming like Saturday Science Labs and Discovery Cart activities, the Center is getting learners of all ages—including teens—excited to do science and to read science books.

“Without literacy, people can’t use scientific information to understand the world around them,” says librarian Sharon Cox, manager of the Center.

Science literacy starts early at the Discovery Center, which has an Early Childhood Area that also includes games and an aquarium with live fish at kids'-eye level. Many young children go running for the hands-on science exhibits as soon as they enter the building. Luckily, they're not expected to be as quiet as fish!

Discovery95

“Kids can laugh here as loud as they want to,” says Cox. "This is a place where children come to learn and discover, but most of all to have a fun and engaging experience."

In addition to welcoming individual and family visitors from all over New York and around the world, the Center hosts 300-500 children a month who come to the library on school field trips.

Managing the Center has been a path of discovery for Cox herself. Now when children ask questions to which she doesn’t have the answers, instead of just finding the facts and handing them over, she joins in the exploration with a gentle “Let’s research this a little bit further...” 

Photos © Queens Library, Children's Library Discovery Center